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The Roses
of Sean McCann
Wing Commander
Brendan "Paddy" Finucane
We are blessed to have
two stories about Wing Commander Brandan "Paddy"
Finucane. The first is
written by Sean and talks about Mr. Finucane and how
Sean came to name the rose after him.
The second is a lovely
biography written by Sean's Son-In-Law Maurice Byrne.
It follows Sean's
Mr. Finucane's Spitfire as
it was in 1940's. From an original painting by
Barry Weekley
For more Information about
Mr. Weekley's artwork please visit his website at
www.barryweekley.com
Photos of of Brendan
Finucane courtesy of his Brother Raymond Finucane
Sean's Story
WHERE DID YOU GET A NAME
LIKE THAT FOR A ROSE? It is an obvious question – after
all it doesn’t sound a name that has a song or romance
about it. But what it has is memory, dedication,
allegiance and loyalty.
 Spitfire Paddy came into my life through my son-in-law,
Maurice Byrne, who wrote about him: “He was the youngest
Wing Commander in Fighter Command of the Royal Air
Force. And one of the highest scoring Allied pilots of
the Second World War – all achieved in a space of two
years. He was killed in action just months short of his
22nd. Birthday.
“He was just one of 100,000 southern Irishmen and men
and women who fought for the Allied cause. His name:
Brendan Finucane, or Paddy, as the British and
Australian public knew him.”
He was born in Rathmines, Dublin on Oct. 16th 1920 the
eldest of five children , Raymond, Kevin, Monica and
Clare, all of whom are alive and living in Britain.
Raymond, who followed Brendan into the R.A.F., also flew
Spitfires and Kevin served in the British Army. They had
caught the flying bug from reading about the real life
exploits of Albert Ball, Mick Mannock and other World
War 1 air aces.
In late 1936 the family move to Richmond near London
where Brendan’s father had been offered a new position
as a company director. Eventually and with his parents’
blessing Brendan joined the R.A.F. on a short service
commission. Posted to 65 Squadron at Hornchurch Pilot
Officer Brendan Finucane 41276 was about to enter action
in the most crucial part of Britain’s survival.
His career took off spectacularly and within a short
time he was awarded the D.F.C. , followed by two bars
and eventually the D.S.O. From July to September 1941
Finucane destroyed or partly damaged 14 enemy aircraft.
The Press did not fail to realise the propaganda value
of an Irish ace flying with the shamrock painted under
his cockpit.
In May 1942 Brendan’s score had risen to 32 which
equalled Wing Commander ‘Sailor’ Malan who was now
non-operational. When he was merely 21 he was promoted
to Wing Commander and continued to lead his three
squadrons on daily raids over France.
On July 15 , 1942 His aircraft’s underwing radiator was
hit by a burst of machine gun fire which caused coolant
to leak; ten miles out from the French coast he decided
to ditch the overheating engine. He made a perfect
landing on the sea. It is now thought that his head went
forward and the gunsight knocked him unconscious. The
aircraft sank instantly taking Brendan with it. His
aircraft was never found.
Maurice Byrne has been dedicated to the memory of
Spitfire Paddy and asked me if I would name a rose for
Brendan Finucane. He told me about him and suddenly
there was the rose. It was in a border of roses that I
bred many years ago but had never been propagated…as a
matter of fact few ever mentioned it. But it had all the
colours that I would associate with a fighter pilot. The
brightness of dawn, the close of an evening – and the
terror or fire in a gun battle.
I think I have said that I never throw out a rose
seedling…nature may kill it with wind or weather but I
will never willingly throw out a rose. This was a
survivor…maybe 20 years sitting in that border.
And now its moment had come. I had only one bush but
with the help of David Kenny it was propagated. And in
November 2004 it was planted with all due ceremony by
the Irish Air Corps in an airfield outside Dublin. Other
plants have been passed on to his family. The memory of
Spitfire Paddy lives on.
Sean McCann
Maurice's Story
THE
SPITFIRE WITH THE SHAMROCK
By
Maurice Byrne.
He was the youngest Wing Commander in
Fighter Command of the Royal Air Force And one of the
highest scoring Allied pilots of the Second World War –
all achieved in a space of two years. He was killed in
action just months short of his 22nd.
Birthday.
It is now nearly sixty years since the
end of that war and most people in Ireland alive today
have little knowledge or interest in the events of that
time . We in Ireland were neutral and therefore no need
to fight. But for all that over 100,000 southern
Irishmen and men and women fought for the Allied cause.
Much has been written about their bravery and courage
but this article concentrates on a person who is
practically unknown in his native land. His name:
Brendan Finucane, or Paddy, as the British and
Australian public knew him.
He was born in Rathmines on Oct.16 1920
to Andy and Florence Finucane, His father fought on de
Valera’s side in the 1916 Rising and his mother was
English born. Brendan was the eldest of five children ,
Raymond, Kevin, Monica and Clare, all of whom are alive
and living in Britain. Raymond who followed Brendan
into the R.A.F. also flew Spitfires and Kevin served in
the British Army.
Baldonnel was where it all started when
their father arranged for Brendan and Raymond to have a
short flight in 1932. Both lads had the flying bug from
reading about the real life exploits of Albert Ball and
Mick Mannock and other stories of World War 1 air
aces.
The family moved around quite a bit and
Brendan was educated initially at Synge St. C.B.S. and
finished his education at O’Connell Schools. Even at
that early age Brendan’s skills of organisation and
determination were beginning to show through. He
excelled at rugby, Gaelic football, boxing and rowing
and by all accounts seemed to enjoy the challenge. The
year was 1936 and many changes were in store for the
Finucane family. Brendan finished his education with a
reasonable schools certificate and took an accounts job
with a firm in Sandymount, where the family had moved.
In late 1936 the family left Ireland to
move to Richmond near London where Brendan’s father had
been offered a new position as a company director.
Brendan and the family were no strangers to England
having spent their summer holidays with relatives near
Southampton. And accounts job held no great interest
for young Brendan and with parental blessing he applied
for and received a short service commission with the
R.A.F.
He began his flying training in the
summer of 1938 and through great determination and will
power eventually earned his wings; his rating was
average. After several postings he applied for and was
accepted for a training course on Spitfires in June
1940. the next month he was posted to 65 Squadron at
Hornchurch and Pilot Officer Brendan Finucane 41276 was
about to enter action in the most crucial part of
Britain’s survival.
His first operational mission in late
July `1940 was not a great success as his aircraft
developed a leak and he had to crash land. On the 12th.
Of August he began his distinguished career by shooting
down an Me 109 with bursts from his 8 Browning .303
machine gun to as close at 50 yards. Finucane had
listened well to his gunnery instructor and got as near
as possible to ensure maximum damage to the enemy
aircraft,
In early September 1940 he was promoted
to Flying officer and was praised highly in a report
which said that he had great leadership ability and was
a quick and adept learner. The squadron moved to
Scotland for rest purposes before returning to Tangmere
in late November where the weather put paid to any real
flying until the New Year. He started 1941 by shooting a
Me 110 twin , engined heavily armed fighter and doggedly
attacked up to four times to ensure a hit. By April he
had shot down five enemy aircraft officially making him
an ace. The Squadron now moved to Lincolnshire to carry
out fighter sweeps over France. Promoted again to Flight
Lieutenant he was awarded the D.F.C. and his log book
endorsed exceptional by the Squadron Commander. The
next move of his career was to bring him fame and
acclaim worldwide.
Brendan was now with 452 Squadron Royal
Australian Air Force as a flight commander sharing the
same airfield at Kirton-in-Lindsay with 65 Squadron. The
Australians were a different type of pilot and totally
unlike the men he had served with up to now. He knew
that he has to make his name and train these fresh
pilots to the standard that would ensure their survival
in the coming battles. Toughness and fairness in equal
measure and making sure that the ground crews who were
the backbone of the service were looked after, became
his trademark.
 In July 1941 452 Squadron began its first
fighter mission over France along with other squadrons
in No. 11 Fighter Group. The idea was to take the fight
to the enemy and to keep Luftwaffe forces in France
fully occupied. Large numbers of fighters escorted
medium bombers in the hope of enticing the Germans into
situations where they were heavily outnumbered by the
R.A.F. aircraft. In reality the Germans fought when it
suited them and only when the odds were in their favour.
Having been equipped with the new
cannon-armed MK VB Spitfire the Squadron moved to Kenley
to join 602 (Glasgow) and 485 (New Zealand) Squadrons to
make a new fighter wing. From July to September 1941
Finucane destroyed or partly damaged 14 enemy aircraft
and for this, and the fighting spirit he instilled in
his squadron, he was awarded two bars to his D.F.C. The
Press by this stage had not failed to realise the
propaganda value of an Irish ace flying with the
shamrock painted under his cockpit.
In October 1941 Brendan was awarded the
D.S.O. an award only second to the Victoria Cross. In
the citation it mentioned his brilliant leadership and
example. By this stage his score had risen to 24 enemy
aircraft and the Press and media attention had become
global with articles about his exploits in Australian
and American newspapers. Finucane himself did not
relish all this attention and was a very modest and
unassuming young man. One of his ground crew had,
unknown to him, painted swastikas on his aircraft
denoting his number of victories but Brendan was very
quick to have them removed.
There is a very evocative photograph in
Doug Stoke’s fine book Paddy Finucane Fighter Ace, of
Brendan, accompanied by his brother Raymond and his
mother, Florence leaving Buckingham Palace after
receiving his D.S.O. A non-flying accident prevented
any more combat duties until Jan. 1942 when he was
promoted to Squadron Leader in charge of 602 Squadron
(Glasgow) based at Redhill which was part of the Kenley
wing. The Station Commander was another noted Irishman,
Group Captain Victor Beamish, and they got on very well
together. Sadly Beamish was lost in action in March
1942 at the age of 38.
In February 1942 Finucane was wounded in
the leg after a fierce encounter with a new German
fighter which had just entered service. The was the
Focke-Wulf 190, an aircraft that was to give the Fighter
Command and the Spitfire Mk Vs a lot of trouble until
the later models arrived. An engagement of a totally
different sort however was announced in April when Jean
Woolford, a girl Brendan had known for several years,
agreed to marry him. They were a very close and loving
couple according to those who knew them.
However the war was still to be fought
and the strain of taking it to the enemy was taking its
toll on the R.A.F. In a very short space of time they
had lost some very experienced wing commanders such as
Bader, Stanford-Tuck, Beamish with very little to show
for it. Combat figures issued after the war showed that
the losses suffered by Fighter Command were on the order
of 4: 1. Books written after the war by many famous
fighter pilots all agreed on their hatred of these
missions.
In May 1942 Brendan’s score had risen to
32 which equalled Wing Commander ‘Sailor’ Malan who was
now non-operational. The strain of these combat hours
was beginning to tell as can be seen in photographs of
Brendan in the summer of ’42. Along with most pilots at
that time he did not take small arms ground fire very
seriously, as he told a visiting army captain. In
Brendan’s case this proved to be ironic. He was promoted
to Wing Commander (the R.A.F equivalent of the Army’s
Lt.Colonel) at Hornchurch on June 21st. – an
amazing achievement at the age of 21. He continued to
lead his three squadrons on daily raids over France and
he admitted to family members that he was very tired.
With his wingman, Canadian Al Aikman,
Brendan flew on July 15 , 1942 to strafe and
shoot-up targets in France. His aircraft’s underwing
radiator was hit by a burst of machine gun fire which
caused it to leak coolant and he climbed for height to
get home across the Channel. Ten miles out from the
French coast he decided to ditch as the engine was
overheating. He made a perfect landing on the sea. It is
now thought that his head went forward and the gunsight
knocked him unconscious. The aircraft sank instantly
taking Brendan with it. His aircraft was never found.
It is difficult to show the human side of
the man in a short piece like this. He had deep
religious beliefs and a deep love for his family and
friends. Respect and care for those who worked under
him were also of great concern to him. He gave his life
fighting the evil that threatened the world at that
time. Remembered in Britain with roads and a hospital
wing named after him surely it is now time that we in
Ireland honour his memory.
Thanks to Balbriggan & District
Historical Society, Michael Brennan, Madeleine O’Rourke.
Des O’Connor and Barry Weekley
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